UPDATE to online database for DSH
12/31/2023 -- I HAVE ADDED FOLKS WHO DIED IN 1973, which includes five people: Mary Irene Ralston, Helen Lefkowitz, Olive Daisy Sill, Mary E. Norris, and William Carpenter. These records have been added to the online database of admission and clinical data (hospital records). A description of the database and instructions for its use -- VERY IMPORTANT -- are provided HERE. Please read this before attempting to find someone in the database. The database itself can be found by clicking on the link button ABOVE, which will download the Access database to your own computer, and you can then save it to your computer.
NOTE: This website contains information about several research projects I have conducted at the Herman Holloway campus of DHSS of Delaware, located on Route 13 south of Wilmington. These projects include a history of the Delaware State Hospital, a database of patient admissions and clinical records for those patients admitted between 1884 and 1920 who died before 1974, links to the www.findagrave.com information about people buried in the Delaware State Hospital Cemetery (the "Spiral Cemetery", information about the history of the New Castle County Hospital (Almshouse), which closed in 1933, links to the www.findagrave.com information about people buried in the New Castle County Hospital/Farnhurst Potter's Field Cemetery (the "Cemetery in the Woods"), "Profiles in Obscurity" highlighting the stories of some of the people buried in the NCCH/FPF Cemetery, and links to other information such as a Timeline of the Potter's Fields of New Castle County (there have been many), and information about the book I wrote about select patients from the DSH, "Remembering Farnhurst." If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] I am still working on identifying everyone who was buried in the NCCH/FPF Cemetery, but we have over 3,000 individuals so far, and I hope to finish by the spring of 2024. ventually, I will be publishing a book about select individuals buried in this cemetery, similar to "Remembering Farnhurst".
FACEBOOK PAGE for the "Historic Farnhurst Cemeteries" is available here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079316712524 (run by Dr. Faith Kuehn)
Find-A-Grave listings for the Delaware State Hospital/Spiral Cemetery can be accessed here: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2417778/delaware-state-hospital-cemetery (779 burials)
Find-A-Grave listings for the New Castle County Hospital (Almshouse)/Farnhurst Potter's Field can be accessed here:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2568624/new-castle-county-hospital-cemetery
12/31/2023 -- I HAVE ADDED FOLKS WHO DIED IN 1973, which includes five people: Mary Irene Ralston, Helen Lefkowitz, Olive Daisy Sill, Mary E. Norris, and William Carpenter. These records have been added to the online database of admission and clinical data (hospital records). A description of the database and instructions for its use -- VERY IMPORTANT -- are provided HERE. Please read this before attempting to find someone in the database. The database itself can be found by clicking on the link button ABOVE, which will download the Access database to your own computer, and you can then save it to your computer.
NOTE: This website contains information about several research projects I have conducted at the Herman Holloway campus of DHSS of Delaware, located on Route 13 south of Wilmington. These projects include a history of the Delaware State Hospital, a database of patient admissions and clinical records for those patients admitted between 1884 and 1920 who died before 1974, links to the www.findagrave.com information about people buried in the Delaware State Hospital Cemetery (the "Spiral Cemetery", information about the history of the New Castle County Hospital (Almshouse), which closed in 1933, links to the www.findagrave.com information about people buried in the New Castle County Hospital/Farnhurst Potter's Field Cemetery (the "Cemetery in the Woods"), "Profiles in Obscurity" highlighting the stories of some of the people buried in the NCCH/FPF Cemetery, and links to other information such as a Timeline of the Potter's Fields of New Castle County (there have been many), and information about the book I wrote about select patients from the DSH, "Remembering Farnhurst." If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] I am still working on identifying everyone who was buried in the NCCH/FPF Cemetery, but we have over 3,000 individuals so far, and I hope to finish by the spring of 2024. ventually, I will be publishing a book about select individuals buried in this cemetery, similar to "Remembering Farnhurst".
FACEBOOK PAGE for the "Historic Farnhurst Cemeteries" is available here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079316712524 (run by Dr. Faith Kuehn)
Find-A-Grave listings for the Delaware State Hospital/Spiral Cemetery can be accessed here: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2417778/delaware-state-hospital-cemetery (779 burials)
Find-A-Grave listings for the New Castle County Hospital (Almshouse)/Farnhurst Potter's Field can be accessed here:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2568624/new-castle-county-hospital-cemetery
PROFILES IN OBSCURITY -- Brief biographies of people buried in the New Castle County Hospital Cemetery/Farnhurst Potter's Field. NOTE: "Profiles" are on hold until I finish sorting through thousands of Certificates of Death to finalize who is buried in the NCCH Cemetery/Farnhurst Potter's Field cemetery. This will take at least until spring 2024.
Remembering Farnhurst: Stories from the Delaware State Hospital, 1894-1920
Available from amazon.com for $38.95. The Table of Contents is provided here.
History of the Delaware State Hospital [for the Insane] at Farnhurst -- 1880s to 1920s
History of the New Castle County Hospital/Almshouse
Timeline of Potter's Fields
History of the Potters' Fields of New Castle County, Delaware including the New Castle County Hospital Cemetery/Farnhurst Potter's Field (1891-1933),the Moore's Lane Potters' Field (1934-1962) and the Boulden Boulevard Potters' Field (1962-1978). After Boulden Blvd. was closed, a Potter's field was opened next to the Baylor Women's Correctional Institute on Baylor Blvd., behind the Holloway campus. When it was filled up, new graves started being added to the outskirts of the DHS Spiral Cemetery, which is the site currently being used for indigent burials.
Available from amazon.com for $38.95. The Table of Contents is provided here.
History of the Delaware State Hospital [for the Insane] at Farnhurst -- 1880s to 1920s
History of the New Castle County Hospital/Almshouse
Timeline of Potter's Fields
History of the Potters' Fields of New Castle County, Delaware including the New Castle County Hospital Cemetery/Farnhurst Potter's Field (1891-1933),the Moore's Lane Potters' Field (1934-1962) and the Boulden Boulevard Potters' Field (1962-1978). After Boulden Blvd. was closed, a Potter's field was opened next to the Baylor Women's Correctional Institute on Baylor Blvd., behind the Holloway campus. When it was filled up, new graves started being added to the outskirts of the DHS Spiral Cemetery, which is the site currently being used for indigent burials.